Falling
by mugglegrl84
Summary: Ginny Weasley has the perfect life. She's an international quidditch star and has the perfect boyfriend. What happens when all is not as it seems? Who's going to be there to pick her up when she falls? Slighly AU H/G
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

Ginny Weasley thought she had it all. After the war, she went back to Hogwarts for her seventh and final year of her education and was soon after drafted as a reserve chaser for the Holyhead Harpies'. It was like a dream come true for Ginny and when the starting chaser decided to retire in favor of getting married and starting a family, Ginny's career escalated. Soon, Ginny Weasley was a household name in the Wizarding community. Her life was a whirlwind of games, press conferences' and a number of endorsements for various quidditch gear, including the new line of Firebolt's.

It was during one of these endorsements that she met Drake, an up and coming beater for the Tutshill Tornados. Like everything else in Ginny's life, their relationship was a whirlwind romance. The press portrayed their relationship as perfect, and to Ginny it was. There was even speculation on when Drake was going to pop the question.

It seemed to Ginny that she was finally getting everything she had ever wanted, but soon, her world came crashing down around her. It was a night just like any other when it happened. Practice that day ran a little late, but that was nothing out of the ordinary, and Ginny decided to stop and get some carry-out from Drake's favorite restaurant before heading home to the flat they shared. She used her wand to remove the wards that kept the press at bay and to unlock the door and stepped into the dark flat. She flicked her wand at the lamp in the sitting room and moved into the kitchen to put away Drake's dinner with a warming charm. It wasn't unusual for his practice's to run late either.

That's when she heard it. She had thought that she was alone, but someone was in the flat. She set the bags of carry-out on the kitchen counter and held her wand out in front of her defensively as she moved down the hallway toward the noise. Her heart beat fast in her chest as she crept toward the bedroom door, images of Death Eaters flashing through her mind. Even as it was happening, she knew it was a silly thought. All the Death Eaters were captured after the war.

As quietly as she could, she pushed open the bedroom door. Once her eyes were adjusted to the dark, she saw movement in the room and flicked on the light. The sight she came upon in that moment will forever be engraved in her mind. There was Drake, naked, and in bed with another woman.

"What are you doing home?" asked Drake in an irritated voice. He seemed almost angry for the intrusion and not a bit remorseful for what he'd done. Ginny didn't know what to say. Everything seemed to have been fine in their relationship. She had always thought that if something like this was happening behind her back that she would be able to tell. But Drake had obviously been very careful because she hadn't a clue about any of it.

Ginny could hear the other woman in the room as she hastily tried to get dressed, but she never spared her a glance. To this day she couldn't say what she even looked like. When she heard the sound of the woman's apparition, Drake casually got out of bed and pulled on his discarded boxers.

"How could you?" said Ginny, finding her voice. "How could you do this to me? To us?"

"Ginny, you had to of known this would happen," said Drake, pulling his t-shirt over his head. He walked past where she stood in the doorway and headed to the kitchen. She could hear him as he inspected the food she had brought home to surprise him.

"Ugh, chicken again. I thought that maybe we could go out for dinner tonight," said Drake, holding up a styrofoam container and giving it an experimental sniff before it went flying out of his hand and splattered all over the kitchen floor. He looked up in surprise only to find a wand aimed between his eyes.

"Why would I want to go anywhere with you?" Ginny ground out between clenched teeth.

"We've got to keep up with appearances dear," said Drake, smirking at her. It was the one thing that always bothered Ginny about Drake, he cared too much about appearances.

"Damn the press," said Ginny. "We're over. I don't want to ever see you again."

She turned on her heal and went back in the bedroom, pulling her duffle bag from the closet and hastily shoving clothes into it. Drake was still in the kitchen when she was finished, leaning against the counter with his arms folded over his chest and a smile on his face like he found the entire situation amusing.

"You'll be nothing without me," he said once she reached the front door. She froze with her hand on the handle and turned to face him one final time.

"No, you've got that wrong," she said, pulling out her wand. "You'll be nothing without me." And before she let the tears that were forming in her eye's spill over, she let him know just what she thought of him with her signature hex, the Bat-bogey.

Ginny apparated into a clearing a few yards from the Burrow and let her bag drop to the ground. She stood there for some time, staring up at the familiar crooked house. The light was on in the kitchen and she could see her mum cleaning up from dinner and making a pot of tea. Ginny had no idea what she was going to say to her family. She knew her eyes were red and swollen from crying and she knew her mother would ask questions, but all she honestly wanted to do was crawl into her old bed and sleep. She felt drained, both physically and emotionally, and she still had a lot to deal with. Once the press got wind of the break up, they would be all over her, hounding her with questions.

Taking a few deep breaths, she hefted her bag back on her shoulder and made her way into the back garden. Before she even reached the door, it was wrenched open from the inside and Molly Weasley emerged with a big smile on her face.

"Ginny! What a surprise! What are you doing here?" she exclaimed, rushing out to meet her daughter.

"Hi mum," said Ginny sullenly. The smile on Molly's face faded.

"Ginny, what's wrong? What's happened? Are you all right? Are you hurt? Is Drake hurt?", said Molly, checking her daughter for injuries.

"I'm not hurt mum," said Ginny as she stepped into the warm kitchen. "I can't say as much for Drake though," she added under he breath.

"What happened?" asked Molly, concerned. It was very unlike Ginny to be so down.

"Drake and I split up. Can I stay here for a bit?" said Ginny as she dropped her bag on the floor by the door.

"Of course you can dear. Sit down, I'll get you a cup of tea and you can tell me what happened," said Molly. "Are you hungry?"

"No mum, that's fine. I think I'm just going to go to bed. I don't really feel like talking about it right now."

The sound of someone clearing their throat startled Ginny and she reached reflexively for her wand as she spun around. With her mother fussing over her, she hadn't even noticed Harry sitting at the kitchen table.

"I think I'll be going Molly," said Harry awkwardly, standing from the table. "Thanks for dinner and thanks for . . . listening."

"Any time dear, any time. Don't forget about dinner on Sunday. The whole family will be here," said Molly as she pulled him into a hug. He momentarily made eye contact with Ginny but quickly looked away. 'Great', she thought to herself. 'Now my ex-boyfriend knows all about my failed love life.'

Ginny stowed her wand back in the pocket of her robes and took advantage of her mother's distraction to slip out of the kitchen and up the stairs to her old bedroom. The door hinges creaked from lack of use when she pushed open the door and she flicked her wand at the bedside lamp to light up the familiar room. Everything was exactly the way she remembered it right down to the bedding. She smiled despite herself when a picture of her and Harry that she had taped to her mirror caught her eye. It was taken during her fifth year at Hogwarts by Colin Creevey down by the lake at their favorite spot.

Sighing to herself, she sat down on the bed and scrubbed her hands across her face. She really was exhausted. A soft knock at the door made her jump and she looked up to find her mother standing uncertainly in the doorway.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about it dear?" asked Molly. If there was one thing she knew about her daughter, it was that Ginny didn't like to show weakness. She would hold it all in, bottle it up, until she finally just snapped.

"What is there to talk about? Drake's a jerk. End of story," said Ginny. She stood from the bed and started rifling through her duffle bag. She had packed so quickly that she really had no idea what she grabbed. And she knew she would have to go back to get the rest of her stuff.

"What did he do? I'm sure you two can work things out," said Molly. She stepped into the room and took a seat at the end of the bed.

Ginny didn't answer right away, still digging through the few meager belongings she had brought with her until she came across what she was looking for. She pulled out the pajama's and tossed the behind her onto the bed. "He cheated on me mum," said Ginny, not looking her mother in the eye. She felt humiliated by the whole thing and knew it would only get worse once the press heard.

"Cheated on you? How do you know?" said Molly, her eyes going wide.

Ginny sighed. "I know because I walked in on him in our bed with another woman," she said. She could feel the tears forming in her eyes and knew it would be useless to try to hold them back. "He didn't even say he was sorry," she said as the tears started to cascade down her cheeks.

"Oh, Ginny," said Molly, reaching over to wrap her arms around her daughter. She sat like that for some time, holding her daughter in her arms and trying to comfort her the only way she knew how. She knew that this was something that Ginny would eventually have to deal with publically but she wanted to protect her from all that any way that she could. And Merlin help Drake when her son's found out what that man did to their little sister.

After what seemed like hours, it felt to Ginny as if she cried all that she could. She knew that she deserved better but right then she could only concentrate on the hurt. "Thanks for being here for me mum," she said as she sat up, sniffling. She used her sleeve to wipe a few stray tears from her cheek and gave her mother a weak smile.

"We're all here for you, even Harry," said Molly. She stood from the bed and smoothed out her robes.

"Yeah, why was he here?" asked Ginny curiously, remembering that Harry was in the kitchen when she arrived. Sure, she knew her brother was Harry's best friend, but she didn't know he came over just to chat.

Molly hesitated for a moment before answering. "He just needed someone to talk to," she said.

Ginny knew her mother was being evasive but was too tired to press the subject further. That didn't mean, however, that she wasn't still curious. What could possibly be going on in Harry's life that he sought out her mother? But all that could wait for now. She had more pressing things to deal with.

A/N: Let me know what you think of the first chapter. What do you thing should happen?

Please review! :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Ginny woke up particularly early considering everything that had transpired the night before. She sat up groggily and for a moment, forgot why she was waking up in her childhood bedroom and not the one she had shared with Drake for almost a year. A small part of her wished that she could just go back to the life she had before, and that same part wanted to just forgive Drake for what had happened and move on. But a much larger part of her realized that she deserved better then anything Drake could ever offer her.

As she readied herself for the day ahead, she felt like she was starting to think clearly for the first time in ages. Everything with Drake had been so fast, too fast in fact. And for some inexplicable reason, Harry's face kept flashing through her mind. He had looked so upset the previous evening when she had shown up at the Burrow. She didn't think he had a girlfriend or anything that could be causing drama in his life. Actually, after the war, he hadn't had a girlfriend at all that Ginny knew about. Of course, it wasn't like she was around enough recently to really know if he did. Ever since her career kicked off, she hadn't been as involved with her family as she would have liked.

And even with all that happened during and after the war, Ginny always felt hope that she and Harry would somehow find each other again. But Harry never sought out her company and before she knew it, she was wrapped up in a relationship with Drake. She had heard from Ron that Harry had battled depression after the war and that he and Hermione had a really tough time pulling him out of it. She could only imagine the things that Harry had gone through. The image of Hagrid carrying Harry's limp form out of the forest was still something that haunted her.

Hoping that she woke up early enough so she could slip out of the house unnoticed, Ginny headed downstairs quietly. When she entered the kitchen, however, she found her mother already bustling about preparing breakfast.

"Morning, mum," said Ginny. Really, she should have known better. It was virtually impossible to wake up before her mother.

"Oh, good morning dear. Are you hungry?" asked Molly. She poured Ginny a cup of tea and levitated it to the table.

"Not really," said Ginny, picking up the cup of tea and cradling it in her hands. "I have to get going."

Molly stopped what she was doing and turned to face her daughter. "You're not going back there, are you?" she said, her hands on her hips.

Ginny sighed. "I have to if I want to get my things. Merlin knows what Drake'll do with them after what I did to him last night."

"Ginevra Weasley, what exactly did you do?" said Molly in alarm. "I don't want the Auror's here looking for you."

"Relax mum. It was only a little hex," said Ginny. She tried to hide the smile on her face. "It should have worn off by now."

Molly drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Ron will be here soon. He was supposed to help your father with something but I think I'd rather him go with you today," she said.

"Mum, I can take care of myself," said Ginny defiantly. She knew it was true. She really could take care of herself. Besides, Drake wasn't really that good with spells to begin with. And the last thing she really wanted to do was explain things to her brother right now.

"It's either him or Bill," said Molly threateningly.

"Fine," huffed Ginny. If she took Bill along, they'd both be in Azkaban by the end of the day. Bill had always had a temper but his encounter with Fenrir Greyback a few years ago gave him a shorter fuse.

Not even a moment after she agreed, a loud pop from the back garden signaled Ron's arrival. What Ginny didn't expect was for a certain dark-haired man to walk in the kitchen behind him.

Ron and Harry appeared to be having some sort of heated quidditch argument as they walked in the kitchen. From the sounds of it, Ron was once again certain that the Canon's were going to go all the way this year and Harry was trying to be the voice of reason.

". . . but we've got a really good chaser this year and the keeper from last season is back in after the head injury," said Ron.

"Ron, the chaser can barely stay on his broom and the keeper flinches every time someone throws a quaffle in his direction," said Harry.

"He's right you know," said Ginny, making them both jump. They had been so engrossed in their conversation that neither one of them realized they weren't alone.

Ron opened his mouth to argue but before he could say anything Molly spoke up.

"Ronald, I need you to go with your sister today. She needs to pick up some of her things," said Molly.

"Why do I have to do it?" whined Ron. "I was supposed to be helping dad with the shed."

"You're going with your sister and that's final," said Molly. She flung her dishtowel over her shoulder and turned to glare at her son.

"I'll go," said Harry, surprising even himself. Ginny turned to Harry with a questioning look on her face but he just shrugged. "That way Ron can help Arthur with the shed."

"That's sweet of you Harry. Surely Drake won't start anything with an Auror there," said Molly smiling before turning back to the stove.

Ginny wanted to protest but she knew it would be useless. And her mother did have a point. "Fine," she said. "Let's get this over with."

Ginny turned on her heel and headed out into the back garden. She turned to look behind her to make sure Harry was following and caught her mother wink at him. 'That's odd' she thought to herself.

"Do you mind side-alonging me? I don't know where your flat is," said Harry, blushing slightly. Ginny didn't know if it was because of thought of having to have someone take him by side-along apparition or the wink her mother had given him. Deciding it would be best not to ask she nodded, grabbed his arm, and turned on the spot.

She had meant to apparate them directly into the sitting room of the flat, but instead found herself standing outside the front door. "He must have put up some wards after last night," Ginny ground out between clenched teeth. She ran her hand through her hair in frustration, pulling out a few strands in the process. All she wanted was to get her things and get out so she could move on with her life. How could she do that when she couldn't get in?

"How good is he at charms?" asked Harry, pulling out his wand.

"Not very," said Ginny. She turned to face Harry, narrowing her eyes at him. "Why?"

"Stand back," he said. "I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen when I do this." Ginny didn't need to be told twice and took a few steps back and away from the front door, looking around the hall in the process to make sure they weren't being watched. She had to admit that she liked this 'bad-boy' side of Harry. It wasn't like Harry ever really abided by the rules to begin with, but he normally didn't go out of his way to break the law.

Harry swallowed past the lump in his throat and waved his wand in front of the door a few times. After just a few seconds they both heard the audible click of the lock releasing. He turned and faced Ginny and instantly felt his face heat from the brilliant smile she was wearing.

"Impressive," said Ginny, nodding her approval.

"Not really," said Harry in what he hoped was an impassive manner. "The wards were rubbish. We shouldn't have any problems."

"Isn't this considered breaking and entering?" asked Ginny as she pushed the front door open and stepped inside the flat.

Harry shrugged. "Is your name on the lease?" he asked.

"No," said Ginny. "It was his flat when I met him."

"Oh," said Harry. "Then I guess it is."

Ginny couldn't help but laugh. "Maybe we should hurry up a bit then. I don't want you to loose your job because I needed to get my toothbrush."

"Good idea," said Harry, grinning. "What did you want to get?"

"Clothes mostly," said Ginny. As quickly and quietly as she could, she walked down the hall and to the bedroom door. Her hand hovered above the handle for a split second before she took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The bed was unmade and clothes littered the floor. Apparently Drake's new girlfriend wasn't that good at household spells.

Deciding that she should be getting on with what she came here to do, she stepped over a particularly large pile of dirty clothes and opened the closet door. Using her wand to levitate a few of her duffle bags down from the top shelf, she quickly started pulling things off of hangers and shoving them in the bags.

"Need some help," came Harry's voice from behind her, making her jump.

"Geez Harry. Don't do that!" she said, throwing an empty duffle bag at him.

"Sorry," said Harry, catching the bag before it smacked him in the face and giving her a lopsided grin.

"Pack everything in that dresser," said Ginny, pointing to a tall dresser on the far side of the room.

"Yes ma'am," said Harry, giving her a mock salute and marching to the dresser she had indicated. Ginny just rolled her eyes and continued packing.

Harry's jaw dropped when he opened the first drawer of the dresser. Obviously Ginny hadn't realized that she had just gave him the task of packing her knickers. He felt his face heat and turned to call over to Ginny.

"Ginny, are you sure you want me to pack this stuff?" he said. Ginny didn't look up from the pile of clothes she was rifling through.

"Yes, Harry. Just shove it all in that bag. I'll go through it all later."

Harry shrugged and with his eyes closed, reached his hand in the drawer and scooped out a handful of lace and shoved it all in the bag as Ginny instructed. Sure, he and Ginny had dated, but that was during school. They were never intimate with each other then and they weren't even remotely dating now. But now here he was, helping her pack her knickers!

Before he had any more time to dwell on it, however, the sound of a man talking accompanied by a woman's high pitched giggle filtered into the bedroom. Harry froze and spun around to face Ginny whose face was drained of color. She mouthed 'he's home' and shoved a few more items in her bag. Harry hastily emptied the last drawer in the dresser and swung the duffle bag over his shoulder.

Ginny slung her bag across her shoulder and rushed to meet Harry in the center of the room, panic evident on her face. Harry brought his finger up to his lips, indicating to Ginny to stay quiet and pulled something from the inside pocket of his jacket. "Do you have everything?" he whispered as he threw his invisibility cloak over the both of them. Ginny nodded. She had to wonder whether he had foreseen this happening or if carrying the cloak was something he did more often then not since the war.

Harry gripped her arm firmly, and just as Drake opened the bedroom door, he turned on the spot. They both landed in a heap in the back garden at the Burrow a second later. Ginny sat up in the grass, looked at Harry and then burst into uncontrollable peals of laughter.

In their haste to get out of the flat quickly, Harry must have forgotten to zip the bag he was carrying and was currently sitting in a pile of her knickers. Realizing what she was laughing about, Harry proceeded to turn an unflattering shade of red. Ginny crawled across the grass on her hands and knees and plucked a particularly lacy pair of knickers off the top of Harry's head, barely controlling her laughter in the process.

"I can't believe I just did that," said Harry as he got to his feet. "I'm sorry about your. . . um . . ."

"That was the funniest thing I've ever seen," said Ginny as she attempted to catch her breath. She pulled the duffle bag Harry was carrying to her lap and began picking up the contents that spilled out into the garden, summoning the ones that were out of reach with her wand.

"Ginny, I . . ." began Harry, but Ginny cut across him.

"They're just knickers, Harry," said Ginny. She looked up and noticed for the first time just how embarrassed he was by what happened and couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for laughing.

"Thank you for going with me today," she said once the duffle bag was packed once more. She held her hand in the air and Harry pulled her to her feet but she lost her balance with the added weight of the duffle bag and stumbled forward into Harry's chest. Harry only managed to stay upright and grabbed her by her upper arms to steady her.

"Anytime," he said. They were so close that Ginny could feel his breath on her face. They stood there for a moment, looking into one another's eyes until Harry finally let his hands fall back to his sides. He self consciously rubbed the back of his neck and busied himself with gathering up the other discarded bags. 'What was that?' thought Ginny as she watched him sling the bags across his shoulder and head toward the Burrow. For a moment she felt like she was sixteen again and she and Harry were at their favorite spot down by the lake.

Mentally shaking herself, Ginny followed Harry into the kitchen. "Where do you want these?" asked Harry over his shoulder.

"Oh, I'll take them up to my room later," said Ginny.

"I'll take them up," said Harry. And before she could protest Harry bounded up the stairs. She followed after and made it to her room as Harry was turning to leave.

"Thanks again, Harry," she said.

"Sure, anytime," said Harry. And then he was gone. Ginny stood there in the middle of her room in bewilderment. 'Had Harry felt it too?' she thought.

"Ginny, there you are," came a voice from the doorway, pulling her from her thoughts. She looked up to find Ron's face peaking around the corner. "What happened? Harry just left mumbling something about forgetting paperwork that needed to be done."

Ginny shrugged and tried to keep her expression indifferent.

"Did something happen?" asked Ron.

"Not really. I mean, Drake showed up but we were out of there before he saw us. He probably heard us apparate but nothing happened other then that," said Ginny quickly. So quickly in fact that it took Ron a moment to catch up.

"Oh," he said finally. "Are you sure that's all?"

"Of course I am," snapped Ginny. "I was there."

"Ok, ok," said Ron, holding up his hands and backing out of the room. "I'll just leave you to get settled then." But when he was out of sight, Ron smiled to himself. He knew exactly why Harry left. He saw what happened in the back garden.

A/N: YAY! I'm back (until my laptop decides to break again of course!) I hope you enjoyed and I'm VERY sorry it's been so long since I've updated any of my stories. Hopefully, it won't be so long this time! :)


	3. Chapter 3

Harry paced back and forth in the sitting room of his small flat, running his hands through his hair. He'd never stopped having feelings for Ginny. Even after all this time, she still held a special place in his heart. And he was convinced before the battle at Hogwarts that he and Ginny would find each other again once it was all over. But instead, he found himself battling his own personal demons and lost himself in depression. If it weren't for Ron and Hermione, he might still be holed up in his flat, or worse.

But like every time before, they were there to pull him through.

When he first stepped back into the world, he thought that maybe there would be a chance that he and Ginny could work things out. But then he found out that Ginny had been able to do the one thing he hadn't after the war; move on with her life.

There she was, well on her way to becoming a star in the quidditch world, and he was stuck not knowing what he wanted to do with his life. That's when Kingsley Shaklebolt found him and asked him to join the new group of Auror's that were scheduled to start training.

Molly had been shocked when she found out that he had agreed. With all that Harry had been through, she figured that the last thing he would do is sign up for a career in chasing dark wizards. But ever since Moody (or who he thought was Moody at the time) put the idea in his head of becoming an Auror, it was all Harry ever imagined himself doing. Besides, he knew that Auror's worked long hours and he knew it would be a way of forgetting about all the things that were missing from his life.

And up until now, it had worked. He had managed to immerse himself so completely in his job that he was now on the way to becoming the youngest Head Auror in history.

But now, he was once again seeing the things in his life that were missing.

In all honesty, it had started a few weeks ago when he came home from one of Ginny's quidditch matches. Watching her fly around the pitch, her crimson hair catching the bright rays of sunshine, made it all come back to him. But then he had to watch her run into the arms of another man, and his heart broke at the sight.

He thought about talking to either Ron or Hermione about how he was feeling, but for some inexplicable reason, he chose to talk to Molly instead. Maybe it was because she was the only real mother he had ever really known, maybe it was something else, but what ever it was, he found himself going to the Burrow and spilling his heart out to her.

What probably surprised Harry the most, however, was that Molly was not surprised to hear he had feelings for her daughter. They sat together at the scrubbed kitchen table at the burrow for what must have been hours discussing what Harry should do.

Molly had confessed to Harry her belief that Drake wasn't being completely faithful to Ginny. Just the thought of someone treating Ginny other then how she deserved to be treated mad his stomach churn. But as Molly didn't have any proof, neither of them knew how to bring up the subject to Ginny.

But then Ginny had shown up at the Burrow, angry tears streaming down her face. Molly had immediately rushed to her daughter, offering her words of comfort, and Harry was left sitting awkwardly at the table. But there was no mistaking the meaningful look Molly had given him over Ginny's shoulder.

This was his chance.

But he didn't want it to seem as if he was taking advantage of her. He wanted to give her time to get over Drake. But at the same time, he knew he shouldn't wait too long and risk losing her forever.

"Grrr," growled Harry, grabbing a fistful of his hair in frustration.

"Harry?"

Harry spun around to find Hermione's head poking out of his fireplace. "Hermione," he said. He crouched down in front of the fireplace. "Is everything alright?"

"Well, I was actually going to ask you that," said Hermione. "Ron told me that you went with Ginny earlier to get her things and that when you two got back to the Burrow, you left in a hurry."

Harry sighed. He really didn't want to get into this crouching on the floor in front of his fireplace.

"I just needed to think about a few things," he said, hoping that would be enough to placate Hermione, but knowing it wouldn't.

As if she read his mind, she asked, "Do you want to talk about it? I can come over."

Harry's meant to say 'no' and that he'd be fine, but instead he heard himself agree. Before he could say another word, Hermione's head disappeared from the fireplace. Harry stood from where he'd been crouched down, knowing Hermione would come stumbling out of the grate at any moment and flopped down on his sofa.

Just like clockwork, the floo flared bright green and Hermione came tumbling out onto the hearth rug.

"So, tell me what's going on," she said without preamble.

"It's about Ginny," said Harry.

"You have feelings for her still, don't you?" said Hermione.

Harry didn't say anything. Instead he picked up his wand from the side table and summoned a bottle of firewhiskey and a glass from the kitchen. After pouring himself a glass, he finally looked up at where Hermione still stood watching him and waiting for him to answer.

"I'll take that as a yes then," she said when Harry still hadn't answered her.

"Yes, Hermione. I have feelings for Ginny," said Harry in a resigned kind of way. For some reason, talking to Hermione about his feelings for Ginny seemed harder then talking to Molly.

"Alright. So what's the problem then?"

Surprised, Harry looked up to find Hermione, still standing, with her arms folded over her chest and an amused grin on her face.

"You're kidding, right?" said Harry. He drained his glass of firewhiskey and poured another. "You've got to be kidding," he said, shaking his head.

"No, I'm not," said Hermione. She sat down next to him and snatched the glass out of his hand before banishing it and the bottle back to the kitchen.

"What did you do that for?"

"Listen Harry," said Hermione, ignoring his question altogether. "You need to tell her how you feel."

"Yeah, well. That's a lot easier said than done, isn't it," said Harry. He knew he had to eventually come clean to Ginny about how he felt about her. "But what if she just laughs at me? What if she doesn't feel the same way and it ruins what friendship we have?"

"I can't see that happening," said Hermione softly. "I don't think Ginny ever truly got over you Harry."

"It sure seems like she did to me," said Harry. "I mean, look at the facts Hermione. She's successful, she's dated other guys . . ."

"So," said Hermione plainly. "You're successful. You've dated other girls."

"Yeah, but we both know the reason I worked so hard and dated those girls," said Harry. He heaved himself off the sofa and the room spun in front of him from the glass of firewhiskey he'd consumed on an empty stomach.

"And how do you know it's not the same for her?" asked Hermione. "How do you know she hasn't worked so hard and dated those guys because she was trying to get over you?"

Harry had resumed his earlier pacing, but this statement made him stop in his tracks. In all his attempts to move on and get over Ginny, he had never once considered that she was doing the same thing.

"Just think about it Harry," said Hermione. Harry could only nod as he watched her move across the room and grab a handful of floo powder from the pot he kept by the fireplace. "You know where to find me if you need to talk."

"Thanks Hermione," said Harry. "For everything."

Hermione tossed the powder into the fireplace and stepped into the grate. "Anytime," she said before disappearing in a rush of emerald green flames.

Harry continued to stand there, long after Hermione had left, deep in thought. How could he had been so thick? Now that he took a step back and compared Ginny's behavior to his own over the past several years, he realized that they truly were doing the same thing.

But he still had a problem. How did he bring any of this up to Ginny?

Ginny sat down heavily on her bed. To say that the day had been draining would be an understatement. Although, she couldn't remember a time where she had laughed harder then she did today seeing Harry with her knickers scattered all over him.

But currently, she found herself extremely confused. If she wasn't going crazy like she felt like she was, then she and Harry had shared some kind of moment in the back garden. But what was she going to do about it? What could she do about it?

Harry had moved on with his life, or so it seemed. On the few occasions she had tried to get Harry to go out, he always came up with some excuse as to why he wouldn't be able to make it. At the time, Ginny had just chalked it up to the fact that he had a very demanding job. But maybe there was more to it.

"Goodnight Ginny."

Ginny looked up to find her mother's head poking into her bedroom.

"Why was Harry here last night?" she blurted before she could stop herself.

Molly looked taken aback, but stepped fully into the room and closed the door gently behind her.

"It's not my place to say, Ginny," said Molly. "Why do you ask?"

Ginny shrugged and looked down at her hands folded in her lap. "I just thought it was rather odd," she said.

"He just needed some advice," said Molly. "But I have a feeling things will work out just fine for him," she added with a wink before she leaving her daughter sitting on the bed with a dumbstruck expression.

"I think they've all gone crazy," she mumbled to herself before climbing under her blankets for what was sure to be a restless night.

A/N: Let me know what you think so far. Please review! :)


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